Deep freeze hits Deep South

There's a common phrase among Southerners: "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes."

The presumption is that it will get nice soon enough. These days, however, for millions of Southerners enduring unexpectedly cold weather, the wait will be much longer.

Jonathan Kurtz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla., said cold air from near the Arctic Circle in Canada came into the Southern region of the United States and stayed for several days, causing lower temperatures than usual across the South.